The real Westside

Kathleen Eric

Re: Geoff West’s Oct. 11 commentary, “Focus on the Westside must

be for all who live there.”

In West’s commentary on the Westside he notes that all one hears

these days is “Westside, Westside, Westside. Until recently that was

just so much ambient noise to me.” I’m pleased that West has decided

to take note of the ambient noise of the Westside. Perhaps he is

hearing more of a “Westside, Westside, Westside” buzz these days

because the decibel level is rising.

While I am happy that West is taking a more active interest in my

part of Costa Mesa, I don’t think his observations viewed from the

safety of his vehicle, compare to living, shopping, walking, working

and surviving on the Westside. Seeing nice homes side-by-side with

decaying homes, next to industrial property, next to “apartments

teeming with activity,” is detached from the reality of actually

living in that landscape.

I live and work on the Westside. Sit back. Let me take you on a

brief tour.

The “apartment buildings teeming with activity.” That’s true. You

have no idea how many people (really) live in the Westside. If you

want to get a more accurate accounting of just how many people a

two-bedroom apartment can hold, you must be around when we have one

of the numerous traffic accidents that occur on my street. The amount

of folks that pours out of the surrounding apartments to rubberneck

[is shocking].

Now, it’s no secret that we have some crowded housing over here.

During one of the above traffic drills we watched 25 guys pour out of

an apartment. They weren’t just visiting either, as the same 25

poured out of the same unit the next morning to head for the Job

Center. Welcome to the Westside.

One of the problems with Costa Mesa, and particularly the

Westside, is the lack of planning and foresight that went into laying

out this community. Basically, Costa Mesa sprang up like an unruly

weed patch. So here we are today, almost built out and finding

ourselves with an influx of new residents. This influx isn’t a

trickle, or even a steady stream. This is a tidal wave.

Our city government is letting us down on handling this problem by

saying that illegal immigration is a “national problem,” so their

hands are tied. Even before this recent wave of new arrivals, we were

battling a decaying infrastructure. Some advise us, particularly if

they are in the charity business, that all that we are left to do is

“open our hearts,” move over, make room, pay up or move on. Because

we live on the Westside.

Every morning you will find men gathered in knots at numerous

locations: in shopping centers, restaurant parking lots, mini marts,

car washes and any comfortable alcove, standing or sitting, waiting

to be hired. This population of loitering day workers is in addition

to men who choose to follow the rules and seek work at the Job

Center. There is at least an equal if not larger amount of

unemployed, unskilled workers who do not avail themselves of a legal

and safe environment in which to seek work.

Is this a tragedy? Yes, it is, and not just from my own front

porch but for the entire community and many communities elsewhere in

the United States today. This is the Westside, but look over your

shoulder, fellow Costa Mesans. You are not immune to this tidal wave.

The former description is some of the morning activity on the

Westside. Afternoon brings the traveling produce trucks, ice cream

trucks and pushcarts of all descriptions. How many of the above are

licensed in Costa Mesa is unknown to me. For the most part,

Westsiders have accommodated this new way of doing business, and

unless it directly causes annoyance, we accept that these street

vendors (if licensed) are a legitimate way to do business.

However, the vending trucks are often not considerate. They block

traffic, blare horns and play loud music. Then there are the vendors

who don’t feel the necessity to invest in building a wagon and ply

their wares out of “borrowed” shopping carts with a towel thrown over

the contents to keep them fresh. I’ve gotten used to all of the

above. After all, this is the Westside.

“Alleged gang activity.” I must correct you on the use of the word

“alleged”; this is a “for sure” thing. There is gang activity on the

Westside. Sometimes there is more and sometimes there is less

activity. How do I know? Let me explain.

We have a particular music of the night here on the Westside.

Whistling. It is the whistling of gang members up and down the

street. An otherwise pleasurable sound that no longer brings joy to

my ears. Then there was the night we left our home to drive to a safe

location for our evening walk. We found our driveway and entire

street blocked by police cars. There was a lot of commotion. Noise.

Battering rams. Doors being knocked in at the family HUD housing

units next door. Drugs, guns, men taken away. Finally quiet. However,

they had abandoned a large frightened dog in a corner of their yard.

A new pet for our family. You see, we are adaptable here on the

Westside.

“Drunks wandering neighborhoods.” Oh yes. At lunch time one day I

went out to collect my mail only to find a fellow passed out under

the back wheels of my car. Knowing that I would have need of my

vehicle shortly and not wanting to back over the slumbering fellow, I

phoned the police. Understandably, they didn’t really want to

approach him, and asked me if I had checked to see if he was alive.

Being a veteran of the Westside, I have found it wise not to touch

drunken men, as they often have weapons. “General untidiness of the

area.” It is not for want of trying to keep the Westside clean. I’m

sure there are many Westsiders reading this letter now mentally

counting how many times they pick up litter off of their lawns every

day. In some states there are fines for those caught littering.

On one of my forays to pick up garbage tossed in my front yard and

beverage containers and tissues stuck into my hedges, I came around a

corner to find a fellow taking something out of my hedge. Reacting to

the situation, I quickly saw that he was using my hedge as a “drug

drop.” He was very displeased at my discovery and the fact that I

quickly dismantled his personal mailbox. The next day all four of the

tires on my car were slashed. This is the Westside.

My husband was trimming shrubbery on our property line next to the

HUD housing -- you remember, the same place we found the family pet?

He was picking up tossed plastic toys, empty alcohol beverage

containers, decomposing diapers, half-eaten food containers, and had

started on the items stuck into the hedge. Luckily, he was cleaning

the hedge slowly and methodically, or he would have ended up impaled

with the used hypodermic that was stuck in with the dirty toilet

tissue in the honeysuckle. We called the police. After all, a lot

kids live in those units. This is the Westside

The city of Costa Mesa simply must pay more attention to this

geographic area. If anyone has looked at the statistics of where the

city finances are distributed, you will see that the Westside

consistently gets the short end of the stick.

Next, how about enforcing what laws we still have on the books

that don’t, in some way, infringe on someone’s freedom. Jaywalkers:

Ticket them. This is a big problem on the Westside. Many accidents

are caused by those who dart in front of vehicles and stand in the

median as the traffic swirls around trying to avoid them. Pedestrians

jump out of the way of bicyclists who use the sidewalk rather than

the designated bike lanes.

These are very simple things that would make a tremendous

difference. They are really just a matter of good manners and

consideration for fellow members of this planet. We do not throw

garbage on other people’s property. We follow the traffic laws. We do

not remove shopping carts from the premises of the business that own

them and leave them abandoned on other people’s property.

In addition, we need to clean up the bizarre zoning over here. And

it wouldn’t hurt if someone took a look at those “apartment buildings

teeming with activity.”

Some folks -- well, a lot of folks -- tell us we should “just move

away.” That always depresses me. This is my family home and has been

since 1949. I am continuously “integrating” myself into my

ever-changing environment. I wish others had the same attitude.

Geoff West, this is the Westside, and it’s a whole different

country over here. It shouldn’t be.

* KATHLEEN ERIC is a resident of the Westside.